Like most people who blog, I read a lot of blogs. I probably don’t read as many blogs as I should, as I am forever saving a link to my bookmarks and never quite getting back to them. Or, on Mondays, I get an update email from a blog I follow, and as I get a lot of these on a Monday, I don’t quite get around to reading them all, or even half of them. I get all the emails on a Monday because I set them all to weekly emails so my inbox is not swamped with update emails every day which would irritate me somewhat. Instead, it gets swamped on a Monday, and I flag the ones I find interesting to read at some point that week. Some weeks I read them all, most weeks I don’t find the time to do so.

Which is why this post is a somewhat pointless list of wonderfulness, as there are only so many hours in the day, and so, dear readers, I suspect you’ll all have less time than you have things to do with it, but if you do have the time, and want to read something interesting, inspiring , thought-provoking , or just plain amusing, here is a list of so of my favourite blogs I never quite have the time to read as much as I should, and that may well be worth following if you have the time.

The List of Wonderfulness

Planetstef…

https://planetstef.wordpress.com/

If you have ever read Oliver Twist and wondered if the life and world of Oliver could translate to the modern world Planetstef has some insightful observations on the subject for you. As well as lots of other insightful delving into the dark underbelly of Victoriana, books, culture, counterculture and lots more besides, with the occasional gem, you could never find somewhere else hidden in the blogs pages…

Lynn Fisher

https://lynnefisher.wordpress.com/

As a writer myself, I am all ways interest in others thoughts on the art. I also have done quite a few posts on the subject of writing. Lynn has written extensively on the subject, and probably more insightfully than I. So if you are a writer of any kind I would suggest you delve into her archives, you may find much that informs and inspires.

Fitful Fearful Phantasmal

https://fitfulfearfulphantasmal.wordpress.com/

I don’t really do poetry, I don’t read much of it, I seldom write it, and if I am honest, I have never really got it as a whole. Wordsworth may have wandered lonely as a cloud, but I always suspected that’s because no one wanted to hang around with him and listen to his accursed poetry. Fitful Fearful Phantasmal is full of poetry, all of it I find weirdly beautiful…  (there also a lot of other stuff as well, that’s is well worth reading.)

Odd Mad Land

https://oddmadland.com/

Stephen King, whom I have been known to quote often, says: To be a writer you must do two things, write a lot, and read a lot. Odd Mad Land is a little online publisher of short speculative fiction. The stories tend to be very dark, very well written, and as such always worth an indulgent lunch hour on a slow afternoon at work… And I love to read short fiction…  There is a lot of the macabre, the strange and the odd here in this mad land, which probably explains the name of the site…  (if I have a quibble, its that they never say whom the author is…)

The Wytching hour

https://thewytchinghourblog.wordpress.com/

I tend towards long sprawling posts as you may have noticed. I also tend to read a lot of long spawlings posts, and on occasion when I review things they tend to have long sprawling reviews. This horror loving librarian writes reviews of movies and books I have often never heard of before which are short concise and yet invariably insightful and interesting. Which makes it a touchstone for finding new things to watch and read. There is much more than just reviews to be found in these woods, however, so well worth a wonder. (I actually realised I don’t follow this one, I  just keep stumbling across it, so rectified that )

That I am sure is enough homework to give everyone for now. I’ll do another list of sites to visit at some point. Happy wandering through the strange world of blogs to you all. (and feel free to suggest any other blogs you think I may be interested in,  in the comments if you wish)